As the New Year begins, everyone has a list of goals they want to tick off their resolutions list like eating healthier, getting more exercise, enjoying the small things, getting rid of stress, and taking on new and exciting challenges.

While all of these things are well and good, they don’t often come to fruition because frankly, it can be really hard to stick to sudden changes unless you have a solid support system in place. This can be from friends, co-workers, family, and yes, even essential oils!

How to Support Your New Year’s Resolutions with Essential Oils

One of the most important things to consider in order to have the most successful outcome possible is to choose resolutions that are attainable or interesting to you. If you hate high-intensity workouts, don’t make them your goal for the next year. Instead, choose a healthy activity that you know you enjoy like hiking, swimming, dancing, or even going on walks.

The key is to choose things that YOU can do consistently without hating it.

Essential oils are one of the best ways to help you achieve this. They can help you stay focused, get relaxed, relieve stress, pique your interest and creativity, and much more!

No matter which resolutions you choose, essential oils can help inspire, motivate, and support you on your journey to a healthier you.

How to Use Essential Oils for a Successful New Year

Below are a few examples of popular New Year’s resolutions and the best essential oils that can help keep you on track.

1. Become a Bad-Ass

So, this one was actually my main goal in 2018. To become a self-made girl-boss who felt motivated, fulfilled, and successful. And you know what? I nailed it.

Sure, I had plenty of downs (depression will do that to ya, though it is getting better), but overall, I had a very good year business-wise. I was able to buy my first home with my husband and raked in an income through my two blogs that I never dreamed I could do. The hard work definitely paid off, but I also had the support from my oils which helped me stay focused, clear-headed, and motivated to reach my financial goals.

Some of the best essential oils I employed for the monumental task of achieving bad-assery included:

• Black spruce – a mentally clarifying blend that helps hone focus
• Creative Juice – a blend by Aura Cacia
• Lavender – for peace of mind and stress reduction
• Rosemary – for mental clarity, focus, and stress reduction – simply sniffing rosemary EO reduces cortisol in 10 seconds!
• Valor (blend by YL) – a blend that helps stabilize emotions, peak motivation, and reduce stress

To use these essential oils, I simply added a few drops to my office diffuser while I worked. Even on days when I didn’t feel like writing content but knew I needed to follow through, these oils really helped get me in the go-get-em state of mind.

I would often smell rosemary essential oil from the bottle to help wake up my senses, reduce stress, and get my mind working.

Valor I would often make into a roll-on (just a few drops in fractionated coconut oil) and apply it to wrists, temples, and throat while working. As an added plus, Valor also helps keep your blood cells from sticking together which is good when you sit at a desk all day!

I think using these oils really helped support my journey and I plan on using them again this year to help me further my business goals.

2. Eating Healthy

This goal seems to be on everyone’s resolutions list. It’s certainly on mine! I really fell off the wagon about mid-way through last year and not only stopped exercising as often but stopped caring about the foods I was eating.

The result has been a much cloudier mindset, low energy, and an overall feeling of “bleh.” I didn’t really gain weight, but I certainly lost tone.

I’m positive I’m not the only one who wants to improve their diet but did you know that essential oils can actually help with this very thing?

Our sense of smell plays a huge role when it comes to hunger cues and controlling cravings. Certain essential oils like pink grapefruit, cinnamon bark, and ginger can directly influence appetite and digestion.

Pink grapefruit is known to help activate enzymes that encourage the body to break down brown body fat (the kind that burns the most calories) and support a healthy and active metabolism. Simply inhaling its scent can achieve these effects.

Cinnamon bark essential oil can curb cravings, especially sugar cravings when smelled. It also acts as a general appetite suppressant and is a great oil to use when you want to avoid overindulging.

Ginger root CO2 is a great oil to use when adding more fiber to your diet causes discomfort. Simply add a drop or two to 1 tablespoon of carrier oil and applying a small amount over the abdomen after meals can help alleviate digestive upset and reduce intestinal inflammation caused by foods you may not be used to eating.

3. Enjoy the Small Things

There’s nothing quite like enjoying the small things in life, and essential oils can help enhance those tiny yet important details.

Imagine using essential oils to help balance your mood so that you can actually notice the small things. Instead of letting negativity or anger control your state of mind, wouldn’t it be nice to feel content and happy so that you can see the world and those around you in a positive light?

Citrus essential oils like lemon, sweet orange, mandarin, and grapefruit can instill a sense of cheerful brightness to your day that clarifies the mind, uplifts emotions, and gives you a sense of happiness.

I know for a fact that when I feel emotionally content, I definitely notice more of the small things like the scent of a fresh cup of tea, the warmth of the mug between my hands, and the full-bodied flavor of it as I sip it. If I were in a bad mood, I wouldn’t even notice these things. I wouldn’t even fully enjoy them and what a loss that is.

I’m not saying that experiencing negative emotions is a bad thing; we certainly need to those too! But it IS nice to feel the positive influence of essential oils especially when we find ourselves in a rut and need help getting out.

To use the uplifting benefits of citrus essential oils, simply diffuse them or wear them in diffuser jewelry so that you can enjoy their scent throughout the day.

Unless you use steam-distilled citrus essential oils, I wouldn’t recommend applying them topically as they cause your skin to become very photosensitive to the sun’s rays. You can read more here.

4. Get More Creative

One of the best things about essential oils is their ability to influence us creatively. If you have ever felt uninspired, had writer’s block, or felt like all your ideas and the motivation to carry them out has vanished, then using certain essential oils can help rekindle that spark of creativity. They can even help you discover creativity you didn’t even know you had!

Some essential oils to consider include:

• Cardamom – gets the creative juices flowing (one of my favorites!)
• Frankincense – help one achieve a state of calm and open-mindedness
• Jasmine – relaxes the mind and increases self-confidence and creativity
• Lavender – helps decrease anxiousness associated with doing something new
• Mandarin – deflects feelings of overwhelm and open the mind to new ideas
• Peppermint – increases focus and clarifies the mind

Simply diffuse a few drops of any of the above essential oils as needed to help stimulate ideas.

5. Getting Better Sleep

Getting enough high-quality sleep is paramount when it comes to achieving any of your New Years resolutions. Without a meaningful 7 or more hours of it per night, you can kiss mental clarity, sustainable weight loss, and stress reduction goodbye.

Our bodies depend on sleep in order to repair and rejuvenate itself. It allows for better mental focus and clarity and even aids physical recovery after your workouts. I think it goes without saying that you need good sleep on a consistent basis if you want to crush your goals and feel good doing it.

Essential oils are excellent allies when it comes to getting restful sleep. They can help relax you before bed, reduce stress, and even help deflect cyclical thoughts that negatively impact your state of mind before bed.

Some of the best essential oils for encouraging good sleep include:

• Bergamot – an emotionally balancing oil that’s good for instilling positive emotions before sleep (do not use topically)
• Cedarwood – helps induce restful sleep
• Lavender – one of the best for inducing deep relaxation and stress relief
• Roman Chamomile – stress relieving and calming
• Vetiver – acts as a “shut-off’ button for an overactive brain before bed
• Ylang Ylang – improves the overall quality of sleep

To use these oils, you can either add a drop to a couple of pumps of unscented lotion or 2 teaspoons of carrier oil and massage it into the skin, add them to a diffuser, or make a sleepy-time roll-on and apply it to wrists, temples, and throat before bed.

Bergamot essential oil should not be applied topically unless it is FCF.

6. Getting Fit/Losing Weight

This one goes hand in hand with eating healthier since you can’t sustainably get fit and lose weight without making sure you’re eating the right foods and the right amount of those foods for your goals.

Obviously, this is going to be different for everyone since you may be trying to build muscle and will need to eat enough to “bulk up” in order to achieve the results you want. For others, it just means cutting out the bad foods like baked good and processed meals and swapping them with healthier homemade alternatives.

However you decide to do it, make sure it is a sustainable way of eating so that you don’t end up yo-yo dieting. Healthy eating should be a lifestyle choice that you can keep doing consistently and enjoy.

Once your diet is where it needs to be, you can focus on those fitness goals!

Essential oils are great for fitness and losing weight because they are so multifaceted in their uses. They can be used to alleviate muscle soreness, build confidence, motivate you through your workout, and help your body recover after physical activity. Some of them, like grapefruit essential oil, can even help your body burn more fat!

Some of the best essential oils that support fitness include:

• Balsam fir – an amazing oil for muscle cramps and fatigue
• Grapefruit – smelling grapefruit essential oils encourages the body to produce enzymes that help burn brown body fat more efficiently
• Lemon – boosts your mood and ups energy
• Lemongrass – when smelled, lemongrass essential oil gives you a boost of energy
• Marjoram – good for treating sore or tense muscles
• Peppermint – alleviates muscle soreness and inflammation
• Sweet orange – boosts motivation and energy
• Wintergreen – when properly diluted and applied topically, it can alleviate muscle soreness

7. More Self-Care

One of my resolutions this year is to implement more self-care into my routine whether that be taking the time to apply lotion to my skin, soaking in a nice bubble bath now and then, or getting in a few face masks on a weekly basis, my goal is to pay attention to taking care of myself more.

Self-care always makes me feel better about myself, and it’s actually enjoyable to do.

Since I work from home, it’s all too easy to work in my pajamas and forego making myself look presentable. However, I find that on days when I do this, I get way less done and feel crummy about my appearance. This can lead down a slippery slope of negativity that can seep into other aspects of my day and even affect those around me.

No one wants to be around a negative Nancy.

Besides even those factors, taking a few extra steps to care for yourself is really important for starting (or ending) your day on the right foot. It’s crazy what just a bit of mascara, concealer, or lipstick can do to boost your self-confidence.

Essential oils fit into self-care routines very easily. You can add them to your skincare, bubble bath, bath salt, homemade candles, etc. They can be diffused in order to set the tone during your self-care routine and add that extra touch of luxury to any situation.

And, besides even that, essential oils can help us with getting better quality sleep, boost our energy levels, and stabilize or emotions which in itself is a form of self-care.

Below are some of my favorite self-care recipes:

• Dead Sea Salt Scrub
• 5 DIY Face Masks for Beautiful Skin
• Healing Rock Rose face Serum
• Hand Cream with Lavender, Black Spruce, and Peppermint
• DIY Smith’s Rosebud Salve
• Highland Mint Body Lotion
• Forest bath Milk Concentrate
• Flower Petal Body Oil
• Citrus and Rose Bath Salts
• Peppermint Lip Scrub

8. Quit Addictions

Whether you are addicted to sugar or cigarettes, essential oils can help curb unhealthy cravings. If sugar cravings are keeping you from getting healthy, try smelling cinnamon bark essential oil in order to help alleviate the urge to reach for sweets.

When more urgent cravings try to take hold, it’s important to reach for essential oils that are known to help stimulate the body in a similar way. For instance, when you crave a cigarette, you can gently smell black pepper essential oil from the bottle in order to mimic the effects of nicotine in the lungs.  This allows your body to go longer between cigarettes until you no longer need the essential oil. And the best part? Essential oils are MUCH healthier for your lungs!

Some other essential oils that are good for kicking unhealthy cravings include:

• Cinnamon bark – curbs appetite and sugar cravings
• Lavender – relaxes nervous tension while weaning off addictions
• Let it Go blend by Plant Therapy – very uplifting yet calming
• Neroli – helps with feelings of frustration
• Pink grapefruit – good for curbing food cravings
• Sweet orange – helps control irritability associated with addiction

You can read more about alleviating addictions here.

9. Reducing Stress

Our modern lives can be full of stress both in the workplace and at home. When left to its own devices, stress can take a toll on our health mentally, physically, and emotionally and leave us feeling burnt-out and exhausted.

One of the best ways to help support a healthy response to stress is to use essential oils. Not only can they help you react in the best way possible, but they can also help you decompress after a trying situation with a simple sniff of a bottle.

Some of the most stress-relieving essential oils include:

• Bergamot – antidepressant
• Cedarwood – sedative to the central nervous system, encourages restful sleep and relaxation
• Geranium – calms nervous tension
• German chamomile – alleviates anxiety
• Lavender – helps calm the nerves and emotions and improves sleep
• Lemon – a bright and cheerful oil that helps diffuse intense emotions like anger
• Mandarin – uplifts the emotions and encourages positivity
• Marjoram – alleviates muscle tension
• Roman chamomile – helps induce restful sleep, very relaxing
• Rosemary – reduces stress in seconds when smelled
• Sweet orange – a bright oil that instills emotional resilience
• Vetiver – acts as a turn-off switch in an overactive brain

10. Saving Money

If your goal is to save more money in the new year, then essential oils have got you covered!

There are so many things you can make yourself that will allow you to save money like homemade lotions, creams, serums, deodorant, shampoo, bath bombs, lip balm, body scrubs, toothpaste, all-purpose cleaner, laundry soap…the list goes on and on.

You can even use essential oils to help support a healthy immune system during cold and flu season which can help you avoid getting sick and having to pay for a doctor’s visit or OTC medicine.

They help with sleep, emotional support, stress, wellness, pest-control, and so much more!

There are so many things you can use essential oils for that you can swap out many of the products you buy at the store with your own versions at a fraction of the cost.

So, if you’re interested in saving money by going the DIY route, then essential oils are an excellent addition to your homemade recipes.

What have been your favorite ways to use essential oils to help support your New Years resolutions? Please share in the comments below!

You may also enjoy reading:

The Top 4 Essential Oils for Weight Loss and Metabolism
3 Reasons to Use Essential Oils for Exercise Support
12 Amazing Healing Benefits of Far Infrared Mats
The Power of Red Light Therapy – The Vital Nutrient Your Body is Missing!
20 Ways to Reduce Post-Workout Muscle Soreness, Aches, & Pains

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